A frustrated Luton resident claims a new ambulance service is “consistently late” when picking up his frail mother.

The resident, whose mother goes to Luton and Dunstable University Hospital three times a week for dialysis, claims that since ‘Private Ambulance Service’ were given a contract for patient transport (dialysis), the ambulances have been arriving at his mother’s house up to two hours late.

He claimed: “My mother, who’s in her eighties, has multiple problems and the wait is stressful; she has no idea when they will turn up and they are late to take her home too!

“Staff at the L&D then have to account for late patients!”

John Webster, Deputy Accountable Officer, Luton Clinical Commissioning Group commented: “We would like to apologise to patients who have experienced difficulty with patient transport services, provided by Private Ambulance Service (PAS).

“Luton Clinical Commissioning Group (LCCG) as part of a wider consortium, has been working closely with PAS to resolve operational issues arising during the start of the contract.

“Since then improvements have been made to the service, and we continue to work through the remaining issues with the provider to ensure patients receive the high-quality service we expect.”

A Luton and Dunstable University Hospital spokeswoman said: “The Trust is in active talks with the Commissioners and with PAS to ensure our patients’ transport needs are met. We apologise to any patient who is delayed as a result of these issues.

“This is unfortunately out of our control. However, we will do everything reasonably possible to accommodate the needs of patients affected.”